Beginnings
by the-kings-tail-fin
Summary: In an AU where Cal Weathers is quite young at the beginning of Lightning McQueen's career, the King takes it upon himself to help his nephew take the right steps toward becoming a racer every bit as good as the kid's idol. Plus, an added one-shot of Cal getting to meet McQueen!
1. Cal's Favorite Racer

"Yeah, he hasn't moved from that spot in the last hour."

Strip looked in the direction his brother had gestured. Cal was glued to the carpet in front of the television, watching the racers on the screen make laps around the track. It was odd to see the kid stationary.

"I thought maybe after you retired he'd lose interest in it." his brother continued. "That wasn't the case at all."

"I'm tellin' you, the kid's made for it." Strip said with a hint of pride for his nephew. "He'll make it in with the rest of 'em one day, just wait."

"You've no clue how anxious that makes me." his brother muttered, remembering Strip's wreck a couple years back. He'd give anything to prevent Cal from ever being subjected to something that horrific.

"Anyway, just keep an eye on him for a couple hours." he continued on. "Me and the wife will be back soon. Just got some errands to run."

"No problem." Strip assured him..

After they'd left, Strip drove into the neighboring room and approached Cal. Cal glanced over at him and got excited. He bounced up and down a few times and pointed towards the screen.

"Ten laps left!" he exclaimed.

"What're you watchin', Cal?" Strip asked, parking next to him.

"Dino four-hundid!" Cal wriggled in anticipation, never letting his eyes leave the screen.

Strip laughed to himself. Cal's speech was getting a little better. He still couldn't really articulate words more than two or three syllables long, but at least he could at long last be understood.

"That's right! Who's winning?" Strip looked down as Cal analyzed the field meticulously.

"Kachow!" Cal yelled when the cameras shifted to show McQueen leading the pack. "Red one! In front!"

 _Well, he's not wrong._ Strip thought to himself, amused. The former rookie's name was probably still a mouthful for someone of Cal's age.

"He's so fast!" Cal continued on, inching closer to the TV as there were five laps left, then three, then two. "Wins a lot! My fav'rite."

"Oh really?" Strip watched as McQueen made the last lap and crossed the finish line, earning his second Piston Cup.

Cal immediately started to hoot and holler, spinning around in circles, celebrating. Strip chuckled as he watched the small car make such a big deal out of it. Looking back at the screen, he saw Lightning's pit crew celebrating with him back in pit row. Seeing the Hudson Hornet made Strip take a moment and reminisce his own career, and how much he missed it at times.

"Ka-chow! Ka-chow! Ka-chow!" Cal was driving around in a circle, chanting the catchphrase. He was as excited as if he'd won the championship himself.

"Hey, Cal." Strip got his attention. "Did you know I raced with him his rookie year?"

Cal stopped and stared up at his uncle, completely astounded. He'd been too little to remember anything about that season at the time.

"Really?" he asked. "You race with Kachow? You know him?"

"Yeah. He's a good guy, Cal, one of the best left out there." Strip explained, thinking back on that year. He hesitated, recalling that last race, and decided to make a promise to Cal. The kid was old enough to start learning how to be a dignified competitor. "I tell you what, I'll make you a deal. If you're ever half the racer he is, I'll be your crew chief one day. I'll teach you everything I know."

Cal's eyes widened. His entire life he'd wanted nothing more than to race. Despite being so young, he knew his uncle wouldn't lie to him. A deal was a deal in their family.

"Promise?" Cal asked. "One day maybe, I get to race with Kachow?"

"Yeah, it's possible. But you gotta be good." Strip warned him. "You gotta work real hard if that's what you want."

Cal rushed over to the television and switched it off. He turned to face his uncle and put on his best look of determination.

"Teach me!" he demanded.

Strip smiled. That was the reaction he'd wanted. He'd noticed that determination in Cal some time ago, and now it was time to turn that potential into skill.


	2. Training

Cal rolled out the front door and onto the porch, viewing the front lawn as a world to be conquered. His training was to start that day, and he was going to be the fastest four year old in both Carolinas.

He started down the ramp that led from the porch to the driveway, but was immediately distracted by movement in the left edge of the yard. What was that? Whatever it was, it was small and furry and -

Suddenly, he found himself falling off of the side of the ramp, having drifted toward his line of sight. The bunny skittered out of the yard the moment he hit the ground, coming to a rest on his left side.

"We're gonna hafta work on that, bud." Strip exited the house behind his nephew. "You can't be a racer if you're fallin' off ramps all the time."

Cal grunted and tried to flip himself back upright, but the edge of the ramp was right in the way, up against his undercarriage. His efforts only resulted in further flipping him all the way over onto his roof. He failed his tires like a stranded turtle.

Strip got a good chuckle out of it, and went down and around to flip him back over before he got dizzy. Cal shook the dirt off and, embarrassed, refused to make eye contact.

"Alright, first rule. You gotta block out all distractions." Strip told him. "You can't concentrate on winnin' if you're chasin' everything that moves."

Cal nodded and looked down at the ground.

"Rule number two, remember your mistakes, but don't let 'em bother you. Just use 'em to remind yourself to not do it again." Strip reached out and tapped him, forcing the kid to look up at him. "You just fell off a ramp 'cause you were starin' at a rabbit. What should you do?"

"Not do it again!" Cal answered, confident in his answer.

"And instead?"

"Watch where I'm goin'. Don't look at anything but the road in front of me."

"See? You're gettin' it."

They drove around to the back of the house, out of sight of the road. Strip looked around and thought of a way to use what he had at his disposal. His brother's property was significantly smaller than his own, so there was less room for Cal to run around in. It was just a fenced in area that contained a propane tank and a single birch tree.

"Alright, Cal. What d'you think is the most important skill a racer can have?"

"Speed!" he answered immediately, revving his engine.

"Hmm." Strip wasn't surprised by this answer. He'd been racing on the actual circuit a couple years before he'd thought otherwise himself. "Try again."

Cal was confused. Wasn't racing all about going fast? Being faster than your opponents? What else was more important?

"Being shiny? With lots of stickers?"

Well, as far as kid intellect goes, Strip wasn't disappointed with the answer. He smiled and tried not to laugh.

"Good guess, but not quite." he said. "One thing that's more important than speed is being smart about what you're doin'. You gotta keep a watch out for what's happenin' around you on the track, but not let it distract you. That way if something comes up, you can react appropriately."

"Like wrecks. Don't wanna get caught in one of those."

"Exactly. Now let's practice something." Strip went around the yard and cleaned some sticks out of the way so that there was a clear oval in the grass with the tank and the tree as endpoints. Cal watched him and wondered what picking up sticks had to do with racing.

"Okay, so you see that path I just made?"

"Yeah."

"I want you to start driving in circles on it. Go as fast as you can, but don't go for top speed. Be fast but be safe. And watch out for any obstacles that might come up. Remember what I said earlier?"

"Watch where I'm goin'. Pay attention."

"Right. Now go!"

He let Cal drive a couple laps around the yard, topping out at a whopping ten miles an hour. In terms of driving in circles, Strip was admittedly impressed that Cal stayed in the same groove a majority of the time. That was something even the more seasoned racers often had trouble with.

Ten laps turned into fifteen, and then into twenty. Strip sat there and did nothing, while Cal began to wonder what the point of the exercise was. Was his uncle just trying to wear him out? Was there something else he should be doing? Did he miss something?

Strip could tell when Cal started to lose his focus. His line was still good, but his eyes were starting to dart around, as if he was looking for something else to zone in on. Now it was time to test him. As Cal took another turn around the tree at the far end of the yard, Strip pushed the pile of sticks right into the middle of Cal's lane.

 _Aha!_ Cal caught the motion, noticed the sticks, and automatically figured that his uncle was trying to trick him. He set course to drive around the sticks, proud that he'd paid attention enough to see the caution. Cal came around the propane tank and took to the outside, preparing to drive around the sticks.

But Strip was prepared for that. Once he saw Cal had caught on to the obstacle, he readied himself. The moment his nephew started to pass the pile of sticks, he revved his engine as loud as he could. Cal jumped, completely unprepared for the deafening, earth-moving sound, and went into a skid on the slippery grass.

Had he been going any slower or been any farther away, he probably could have come to a complete stop on his own, but a combination of bad timing and poor reflexes sent the kid straight into a wall of shiny Dinoco blue metal.

"Oof!" Cal exclaimed as he slammed into his uncle's side, coming to an abrupt halt.

"Ow." Strip muttered, looking down at the disheveled car next to him. "You alright, kid?"

"Yeah." Cal winced and backed away a little, exposing a long scratch across his uncle's perfect paint job. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, kid." Strip gave him a once over to make sure he was really okay. Cal seemed fine, he just had another few scratches to add to the collection. "Wrecks are part of racing, too. We've still got a lot of trainin' to do yet. Makin' mistakes is part of it."

"I wasn't focused. I messed up." Cal looked disappointed in himself, and felt like he'd disappointed his uncle as well. "I saw the sticks, but I let your noise distract me."

"Hey, now, the point is, you know what your mistake was, right?"

"Mm-hm"

"So what do you do with that?"

"Remember it, and don't do it again."

Cal looked up to see his uncle smiling at him and immediately felt his disappointment vanish. He knew he'd messed up, but the lesson was learned. It was that lesson that he'd needed, not the satisfaction of 'winning' like he'd assumed.

"Let's go again!" Cal said. "Teach me another lesson!"


	3. Meeting McQueen

"Stay close, Cal. You can't be runnin' around out here, you'll get lost and we'll never find you again."

"Okay."

They were slowly making their way through the crowds, Cal sandwiched between his aunt and uncle for maximum security. They'd decided to take him to a race as a belated birthday gift, and he'd had an absolute blast watching from the suites. Still, he wanted to know what it was like down near the track where all the excitement was.

Cal was staring around in awe. Everything was so much bigger in real life than on the television. A lot louder, too. It was a bit of a sensory overload for someone of his age. He couldn't focus on any one thing in particular for too long, as any sudden noise or a flash of light or color would yank his attention away in another direction.

Strip was trying to lead them over to the Dinoco tent. He felt at home there, and he hadn't talked to Tex in a while. He also thought it would be a good idea to show Cal what a part of his career had been like, and Cal was excited to see it.

They moved forward through the crowd, ignoring reporters they couldn't avoid that wanted to stop and ask questions. They weren't there to be interviewed.

Right before they reached their destination, Cal peered over his uncle's fender and saw the more humble, red Rusteze tent. He immediately recognized the color scheme and logo, and started to subconsciously veer toward it, correcting himself only after running into Strip.

"What are you doin'? Can't you drive?" Strip looked down at him after he'd bounced back from the slight collision.

"Sorry." Cal said absentmindedly, still staring in the general direction of the Rusteze tent.

"Why don't you go take him and introduce him to Lightnin'?" Lynda suggested, seeing the orientation of Cal's attention. "He'd love it."

Strip looked around to see if Lightning was nearby. He'd placed top three at the race, and was undoubtedly being swarmed by the press. Victory lane was on the other side of the Dinoco pavilion, still bustling with activity. He saw the red racer almost immediately, trying to push his way through the crowd and get to his sponsor's tent.

"Alright." Strip agreed. "Come on. Cal, I want you to meet a friend of mine."

Tex came out to meet them as they approached the Dinoco tent. After a brief exchange of "how've you been?" and "good to see you!" niceties, Strip left Lynda to talk with his old sponsor, while he took Cal over to intercept Lightning as he passed by.

"Hey kid, nice race today." Strip called to the now seasoned racer.

"Oh, hey King!" Lightning slowed his pace to a halt and smiled at the veteran. "Thanks! It's good to see you out and about again. The place ain't quite the same without you."

Strip glanced over at the Dinoco tent at Lightning's gesture, the only sponsor without a racer at the moment. Tex refused to hire on anyone less than phenomenal, despite Strip's urging to just pick someone with good morale. In his opinion, they didn't have to be a great racer, they just had to be a good person.

"Well, things will shape up soon enough." Strip said with the slightest hint of nostalgia. "But anyway, I don't wanna keep you from your business, but I have someone here that's been dyin' to meet you."

He backed up a little to reveal Cal, who'd been clinging to his side and trying to hide in his shadow. The little kid had had no idea who his uncle'd referred to as a 'friend' until he and Lightning started talking. Cal sat there, staring up at Lightning silently like he'd just met his lord and savior.

"Come on Cal." Strip urged him, pushing him a little. "Don't chicken out now."

Lightning smiled at the pint sized race car and inched a bit closer. "You a big race fan?"

Cal slowly nodded, coming out of his trance as Lightning spoke to him. He flashed his idol a big, lopsided grin and immediately tried to mimic Lightning by flashing one highlight and saying "kachow!" with all his might.

"Wow! That was really good!" Lightning encouraged him, loving his enthusiasm. It reminded him of himself when he was young.

"You're my fav'rite." Cal said abashedly, looking down and growing a little quieter. "Win _all_ the time."

"Oh?" Lightning seemed surprised by this statement, and shot Strip a questioning glance. "Favorite, huh?"

"Yeah!" Cal exclaimed, jumping a little. "I wanna be like you!"

"Well I tell you what, I raced with and learned from the best." Lightning found himself handing out free advice. "You've got yourself a good mentor here. I'm sure he'd be willing to teach you a few things. If you wanna be a racer, you just gotta work _really_ hard! And don't give up!"

Cal turned back to look at his uncle, sitting there gleaming in the stadium lights. It seemed to dawn on him for the first time that Strip really was a famous racecar. All the paint and stickers weren't for show, they were remnants of how great he'd been out on the track. Cal had always known Strip was a racer, but seeing him in a different light really drove that fact home.

Excited, Cal returned to his uncle's side to playfully nudge him in the tire. "Teach me to race! Pleeeease!"

Lightning laughed a little as Strip smiled down at his nephew's persistent goading. "I can see it now, King. He's gonna tear up the track one day."

"Looks like it, don't it?" he responded, looking from Cal up to Lightning. "Hey thanks, kid."

"No problem. See you around, King." Lightning gave him respectful nod as he drove off towards his sponsors.

Strip watched him go for a few seconds before returning his attention to Cal, who was sitting at his side, emphatically revving his engine.

"Careful, there, kiddo. Don't hurt yourself." he reached out to tap Cal on the fender to get his full attention. "Let's go back and talk to Tex, alright?"

"Yeah!" Cal was hyped. "Maybe Tex give Cal big spons-ship!"

Strip choked back a laugh as he guided him back towards Tex and Lynda. "Dream big, Cal. Keep it up."


End file.
